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Tag Archives: Professor Hinkle

You know I love me some Rankin Bass. These Christmas specials defined my childhood right up there with the Mighty Ducks films. They are must watches every Christmas. Today I watched Frosty the Snowman. It’s like Jack where a snowman comes to life. Frosty doesn’t kill people or is Batman though. This Rankin Bass special is a little different since it isn’t claymation like the others. This one is done in animation. It’s not quite as cool because of that, but it’s still a solid effort.

The Plot

A bunch of kids are building a snowman on the first snow of the season which fell on Christmas Eve. Karen, the main girl, decides to call him Frosty after bad names like Howard and Oatmeal. An evil magician, Professor Hinkle, is not a very good magician so he throws his hat out. The kids put the hat on Frosty and he comes to life. “Happy birthday!” That’s what Frosty says when he comes to life. He says it every time in every Frosty special except for that horrid Frosty Returns. The magician takes the hat back,but his rabbit named Hocus Pocus gives it back to the kids. Frosty is back alive and he’s all singing and dancing. It’s fun! It’s getting hot though so he has to go to the North Pole. They jump on a train and for some reason Frosty makes Karen go with him. Hocus Pocus also goes. Karen gets too cold and Frosty has to make her warm. That damn Hinkle is still causing trouble though. He locks Frosty in a greenhouse and that melts him. Karen is sad and cries over Frosty the Puddle. Hocus Pocus has recruited Santa Claus to help out. Paul Frees is voicing our Santa in this special. It gets confusing sometimes since there are different Santa voice actors in Rankin Bass like Mickey Rooney. Santa just opens up the door and Frosty comes back to life since Christmas snow magic or something. Santa forces Professor Hinkle to write why he shouldn’t be bad or else he won’t get presents. Santa takes Karen home and he takes Frosty to the North Pole. That’s okay because Frosty will be back again some day. He’s got a sequel, a crossover and a crappy John Goodman not really a sequel to come back for when he returns.

Final Thoughts

I actually fell asleep a little bit, but that’s just from me being tired. I still enjoy watching the film. I love the cop who swallows his whistle. I love Hinkle saying, “Messy, messy, messy.” The song is always wonderful to hear. I love Jackie Vernon as Frosty the Snowman. Jimmy Durante is great as the narrator. It’s just a magical special. It really brings me into the Christmas spirit even if I fell asleep watching it this time. Go watch it if you haven’t this holiday season!